He Shall Hide Me…

Shalom Mishpochah (Family),

It is March 2026, and all eyes are on Iran, ancient Persia, the setting of the biblical book of Esther. In looking at the Jewish Jewels Archives, I found a newsletter that I wrote in 2006, twenty years ago, about Queen Esther and the holiday of Purim. 

Although I initially resisted (I dislike repeating what I write) and have never done this before, the Holy Spirit assured me that the message of 2006 was the same one that the Lord wanted to give His People today. Confirmation happened when I heard an Iranian believer say in a recent interview on YouTube that, like Esther, thousands of new Persian believers are hiding all over the country. Their lives are in jeopardy. It is reported that more than 50,000 Iranians are feared to be dead, gunned down in the streets, murdered in hospitals, tortured, blinded, and mercilessly killed by a brutal regime whose hatred is fueled by something spiritual and “hidden”—a demonic spirit—the spirit of Amalek, the oldest enemy of Israel, with the Prince of Persia as its Chief. This spirit has captured the hearts and minds of the radical Jihadist Muslims in Iran. This hateful, antisemitic (anti-Christian) spirit is unmasked in the Book of Esther resulting in the victory of the Jewish people in Persia, saving them from extermination. We need to see a victory in Iran today!

Purim is celebrated in 2026 from the evening of Monday, March 2nd, through Tuesday, March 3rd. I do not know, at this hour, what the fate of Iranian believers will be during Purim. As I write this letter, Christians are being hunted down for torture and execution. According to the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), they are being ripped from their families, beaten, and dragged before sham tribunals. It seems as if the Islamic regime’s crackdown falls hardest on Christians—whom it brands as agents of the “West.”

What can you and I do? Pray. Like Esther, we need to go before the King—the King of kings—on behalf of the Iranian people, especially our brothers and sisters in Yeshua (many brand-new believers!). Give. Support groups like the ACLJ that engage globally in passionate defense of persecuted, dying Christians.

The Hidden Ones in Persia

The anti-God, antisemitic hatred in Persia is seen in the Book of Esther through the wicked “Haman.” Haman was an Amalekite, a descendant of King Agag, who like his forefathers sought to exterminate the children of Israel. The God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob remains “hidden” throughout the entire Book of Esther but arranges the circumstances so that His people prevail over their enemy. His name is never mentioned, but His presence is felt. Esther, the heroine of the Purim story, is a Jewish orphan who finds favor with a great king (King Ahasuerus) and is elevated to the position of Queen of Persia. She too is “hidden.” Her cousin Mordecai, who raised Esther, told her to hide her Jewishness upon entering the palace. The time came, however, when Mordecai pleaded with Esther to come out of hiding since the annihilation of her people was at stake. Most of you are familiar with Mordecai’s words: “…’Do not think in your heart that you will escape in the king’s palace any more than all the other Jews. For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?'” (Est. 4:13-14).

Esther’s name in Hebrew is Hadassah, which means “I will be hidden.” Many times “hiding” is according to the plan and perfect will of God. We usually think of hiding as “bad.” Adam and Eve hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God after they had sinned (Genesis 3:8-10). Moses hid an Egyptian in the sand after slaying him because he had been beating a Hebrew slave (Exodus 2:11-12). But not all hiding is “bad.” Much hiding in the Holy Scriptures is purposefully good with an ultimate intent of blessing. God hides people—including Himself— to be revealed at a later, auspicious moment. The following verse is found four times in the Brit Hadasha, indicating its great importance: “For there is nothing hidden which will not be revealed, nor has anything been kept secret but that it should come to light.” (See Mark 4:22, Matthew 10:26, Luke 12:2, and Luke 8:17).

Queen Esther hid her Jewish roots until the God-ordained time for them to be revealed. The revelation resulted in the salvation of the entire Jewish nation. Think about it! Many Bible commentators have compared the modern day Body of Believers (the Church) to Esther. We are the Bride of the King of kings. What about our Jewish roots? Do we embrace them or do we hide them? We believe that the “Church,” as a whole, has failed miserably in her God-given role of provoking the Jew to jealousy (Romans 11:11) largely because she has denied (worse than hide?) her Jewish roots. And yet, the very salvation of Israel is at stake! When Esther revealed her true familial connection, she also entered into intercession for the Jewish people. Revelation brought redemption, and God’s people were spared.

As Chuck and Karen Cohen point out in their book Roots of our Faith, Israel is being threatened right now with extinction through satanic attacks in every area: spiritual, sociocultural, and political. It is time for Messiah’s Bride, like Queen Esther, to embrace the root (Israel) that supports her and plead with The King on Israel’s behalf. We have come to the kingdom for such a time as this! Ministries such as Jewish Jewels have been called by God at this time in history to bring forth the hidden Jewish root and reveal hidden treasure from the Hebrew Scriptures: “I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places, that you may know that I, the Lord, who called you by name, am the God of Israel” (Is. 45:3).

Hidden Treasure

There are at least five words in Hebrew that translate into English as “treasure.” All of them imply “hidden.” One reason for this is cultural. In Bible times in the Middle East, there were no banks or safe deposit boxes. When people had great wealth, they also had a great problem. Where could they hide their possessions (i.e., silver, gold, jewelry) so that they would not be stolen? Sometimes treasures were hidden in secret closets in a house or in vaults under a home. Often they were buried in a field. No one but the owner knew the location. If war, death, or other circumstances prevented the owner from returning for his treasure, it remained hidden until someone else happened to find it.

The parable of Yeshua in Matthew 13:44 illustrates this practice of hiding treasures: “‘Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.'” Surely this man’s friends and neighbors could not understand why he would sell everything he had just for a piece of land that might not have been worth much. They did not know what he had found hidden in that piece of earth: TREASURE. He found something so wonderful, a source of such JOY, that he was willing to forsake everything else to have that TREASURE.

Neil and I personally related to this parable because in 1973, we found THE GREATEST TREASURE OF ALL—Yeshua, the Messiah—and left our home in New York, our families, and our ski house in Vermont to follow Him. We had found REAL JOY. What had been hidden was revealed to us. Fifty-three years later I still rejoice as I see other Jewish people receive the same revelation. We never regretted our decision and were so glad we “sold out” completely to the Messiah.

There was a time, however, early in our walk with Yeshua when we were tempted with treasure of another kind. Neil invested in silver coins and decided to hide them in a secret compartment in the wall of our laundry room. One day, following a church worship service (about one year before we began Temple Aron HaKodesh), the Ruach HaKodesh brought to Neil’s remembrance a scripture that he had heard in a sermon: “‘Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also'” (Matt. 6:19-21 NASB). Neil was devastated when God showed him that his heart was in the wall! Neil repented, and never repeated that sin. He has been enjoying the Presence of the King of kings in Heaven for seven years this March 25, 2026.

Hidden People

Does God Hide?

Yes, God definitely hides. Sometimes He hides from men because of their sin (Isaiah 59:2, Isaiah 64:7, Ezekiel 39:23, Ezekiel 39:24) but He also hides from us to cause us to seek Him more diligently. “Truly You are God, who hide Yourself, O God of Israel, the Savior!” (Is. 45:15).

Traditional Jews see God as hiding Himself behind the Kotel (Western Wall). This is based on Song of Songs 2:9 KJV, “…he standeth behind our wall…” It is believed that God’s presence is only perceived as He is actively sought (Deuteronomy 4:29).

In chapter 3 of the Song of Songs we find God hiding. The Shulamite (believer) experiences separation from her Beloved (Messiah). She seeks Him but doesn’t find Him. She loves Him but He eludes her. A sense of His presence is missing in her life. Has He intentionally withdrawn? Yes. It has been said that when God hides, our hunger for Him increases, and our faith is forced to grow. The Lord is silent in His love (Zephaniah 3:17 NASB). Oswald Chambers made a cogent observation: “God sometimes withdraws His conscious blessing in order to teach us to walk by faith. We are worth far more to Him now (as older believers) then when we were in our early days of sweetness and light, conscious delight and thrilling testimony.” While verses such as Isaiah 8:17, Job 34:29, and Psalm 44:24 show us that God hides Himself, there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed—even God! (Luke 8:17; John 14:7).

The Hidden Bride

The Bride of Messiah is in many ways called to be “hidden.” Colossians 3:3 tells us that we died, and our life is hidden with Messiah in God. If we stay hidden, the devil can’t find us! We are to be like the doves hidden in the clefts of the rocks of the Western Wall (Song of Songs 2:14). “Clefts of the Rock” is a reference to our crucified Lord. A Bride was taken from His side, just as a bride was taken from Adam’s side. When we tuck back under His arm, we find our rightful position in Him. Safe. Secure. Sheltered. Hidden…in Yeshua, the Rock of our salvation.

God hides us in Himself as we cry out to be sheltered in His love. “Keep me as the apple of Your eye; hide me under the shadow of Your wings” (Ps. 17:8). “For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; in the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me; He shall set me high upon a rock” (Ps. 27:5). “You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in Your word” (Ps. 119:114).

Years ago, when I first began studying the Song of Songs, I found a book written in 1899, by Jessie Penn-Lewis called Thy Hidden Ones. I recently re-read the book and was very blessed by its words of life. The “virgins” of Song of Songs 1:3—representing those of us who have been cleansed and purified, made new by the blood of the Lamb—are called alamot (pronounced ah-lah-MOHT) in Hebrew. Jessie points out that the Hebrew word translated virgin, almah , is derived from the root word alam ) ah-LAHM), meaning to “veil from sight.” The “virgins” are the “hidden ones” spoken of throughout her book. By the way, this book briefly covers all eight chapters of the Song of Songs. (My two books only cover chapters 1-5.) Order a copy of Thy Hidden Ones if your heart yearns for more of the Beloved!

Intercessors: God’s Hidden Jewels

There are millions of people the world over who are part of the Bride of Messiah who are “hidden”—no one knows who they are. God knows—especially the intercessors, those hidden jewels that one day will be revealed as the ones responsible for the advancement of the Kingdom of God on earth. Then there are those of you who have been hidden, like Joseph and Moses, Esther and Yeshua, until the fullness of time. God has a plan for each one of His children. 2026 could be the year that He takes YOU out of hiding, to share you with the world, and use you to advance the Kingdom of God. Remember there is NOTHING hidden that shall not be known! Although this ministry is very public, our highest goal is to stay HIDDEN IN YESHUA!

Join me in confessing Psalm 32:7 this month: “You are my hiding place; You shall preserve me
from trouble; You shall surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah.”

Love in our soon-coming King,